JPH072093B2 - Food coating method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a food coating method and apparatus for applying a coating material to the surface of food, for example, confectionery.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, as a method of hanging chocolate on only the upper surface of eclairs, cream puffs, confectionery bread, etc., a method by hand, a method of adhering chocolate to a roll and transferring it to the upper surface of the confectionery, or a method for coating the confectionery There has been a method of dipping in chocolate with the wearing surface facing downward, or spraying chocolate.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) However, in the case of the manual work, not only the productivity is poor, but also the worker may be forced to perform heavy labor, and in the case of the transfer, the variation in the height of the product is the same as that of the adherend. However, there was a problem that it became uneven. Also, support the confectionery with the adhered surface as the bottom, spray chocolate from below,
Alternatively, the method of partially immersing in a chocolate liquid has a problem that it is difficult to transfer the surface-coated portion from the supporting member to the next step while keeping it in a good state, and is not suitable for a continuous high-efficiency mass production line.

Further, in an enrober using a wire belt, it is difficult to partially scrape the chocolate or the like because the chocolate or the like attached to the wire belt adheres to food.

(Means for Solving the Problem) However, the present invention is to allow the coating material to flow down in the form of a thin film, and in passing the food to be coated under the thin film, by controlling the passage speed of the food to be coated, The problem was solved. The passing speed regulates the speed so that the coating material, which is sufficient to adhere to the surface of the food to be coated, passes through while the coating material flows down. Therefore, since the upper surface of the food to be coated is not provided with an extra coating material, only the upper surface of the food to be coated is coated, thus solving the above-mentioned conventional problems.

That is, the present invention provides a method in which a coating material is made to flow down in a thin film form, and the thin film coating material is sequentially deposited on a food product to be coated, wherein the food product to be coated is discontinuous in a moving direction. And is moved at a high speed, the support member is provided with at least a flow gap of the thin film coating material, and the coating material adhered to the support member is removed. The food coating method is characterized in that the moving speed of the food to be coated is regulated so that the amount of the coating material that the food receives during passage matches the amount with which the surface of the food to be coated is covered.

Further, below the hopper for flowing the coating material into a thin film, a roll provided with a driving force for laterally moving the food to be coated is erected at predetermined intervals, and directly below the lower portion of the coating material. Further, the roll gaps face each other, and a coating material removing means is provided to each of the rolls to form a food coating apparatus. A scraper is attached to each roll in the apparatus so that the coating material adhering to the surface can be immediately removed. The amount of coating material flowing down (thickness of the thin film) can be appropriately adjusted by, for example, raising and lowering the shutter.

The food to be coated in the present invention is, for example, eclairs, cream puffs or confectionary bread, but the same applies to other foods. The coating material may be chocolate, liquid sugar, cream or the like, but any material having appropriate fluidity can be used.

(Operation) The present invention allows the coating material to quickly pass through at a speed at which the surface of the food to be coated can be coated according to the amount of coating material flowing down.
It is possible to efficiently coat only a predetermined surface of food with the coating material. Moreover, regardless of the size of the food, it is sufficient to regulate the moving speed of the food, and the adjustment is easy.

Further, since the coating material between the support members is allowed to flow down, the flow rate of the coating material is sufficient, and the removal action of the adhered coating material is combined to keep the roll clean, and the coating material is applied to the lower surface of the food product. There is no risk of adhesion. Since the flow rate of the coating material on the food is determined by the speed, it is possible to obtain a uniform product without excess or deficiency of coating.

(Embodiment) Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, the bottom wall 1a of the hopper 1 into which the chocolate a is put is gently inclined downward to the right, and the chocolate is placed between the right end of the bottom wall 1a and the shutter 5 attached to the right side wall 1b of the hopper so as to be able to move up and down. An outflow slit 22 is provided so as to flow down like a thin film b. The shutter 5 includes a screw rod 4 mounted on a bracket 21 having a mounting piece 5a fixed to the right side wall 1b.
It is screwed to the lower end of. Below the hopper 1, rolls 6 for supporting and transporting the food 8 to be coated are arranged in parallel at small intervals, and a scraper 7 is brought into contact with each roll 6 and The roll 6 is forcibly driven. The discontinuous support member 23 is constituted by the rolls 6 arranged in parallel, and the end edge side of the inlet side conveyor 10 is made to face the right side of the support member 23,
On the left side of 23, the starting edge side of the exit side conveyor 11 is faced. Below the support member 23, a tank 12 with a jacket 12a is provided for receiving the excess chocolate, and a suction cylinder 13a of a pump 13 is connected to the bottom of the tank 12 to discharge the pump 13. A chocolate transfer pipe 19 is connected to one end of the chocolate transfer pipe 19, and the other end of the transfer pipe 19 is opened onto a net basket 2 provided on the hopper 1. In FIG. 1, 3 is a knob for moving the shutter 5 up and down, and 20 is a geared motor for driving the pump.

In FIG. 2, the intermediate shaft 25 is fixed to the installation plate 24 of the roll 6 installed on the side wall of the tank 12, the gear 26 is rotatably installed on the intermediate shaft 25, and the sprocket is fixed to the same boss as the gear 26. A chain 16 is attached to a roll 17 and a sprocket 15 fixed to the shaft of a roll driving motor 14. The gear 26 meshes with the gear 18 of the roll shaft.

In the above example, for example, a confectionery bread (35 g) produced in a normal state is moved in the direction of arrow 27 in FIG. 1 at a rate of 0.5 m / sec and chocolate is flown down at 380 g per second, and as shown in the figure, almost the entire surface is covered. It could be coated. In the above, when the speed of the sweet bun was 0.3 m / sec, the chocolate was too much to coat the sides of the sweet bun, and when the speed was 0.6 m / sec, the chocolate was too small to sufficiently coat the surface of the sweet bun. It should be noted that there is a relationship between the amount of chocolate flowing down and the speed of the confectionery bread in that it is sufficient to coat the surface of the confectionery. Therefore, although it varies, in practice, when the flow rate is 350 g to 400 g per second, the speed is 0.48 m / sec to 0.53 m / sec.
Is preferred.

In the above-mentioned apparatus, when the chocolate flows in a thin film as shown by the arrow 28, the surface of the confectionery bread is coated without excess or deficiency as indicated by 8a in FIG. The chocolate that has flowed out of the sweet bun is collected in the tank 12, heated by the jacket and maintained at a temperature suitable for coating, and is conveyed by the required amount pump 13 via the transfer pipe 19 as indicated by arrow 29,
It is filtered by the net basket 2 and enters the hopper 1.

The chocolate that has flowed out of the sweet bread flows down to the scraper 7 without being caught by the roll 6. Since there is no excess or deficiency of the chocolate that has flowed into the sweet bun, a small amount of chocolate flows out to the roll 6. As a result, the chocolate removing action of the scraper 7 on the roll 6 is maintained, the roll 6 is always kept clean, and it is possible to prevent the chocolate from adhering to the bottom of the sweet bread.

(Effect of the invention) That is, according to the present invention, according to the flow-down amount of the coating material, since it is transported at an appropriate speed so as to coat only the surface of the food to be coated, the surface of the food can be coated without excess or deficiency. There is. In addition, while supporting and transferring food with a support member that is discontinuous in the transfer direction,
Since the coating material is dropped in a thin film form between the supporting members and the supporting member is provided with the means for removing the coating material, the amount of the coating material flowing down to the supporting member is small and the function of the removing means is maintained. As a result, the supporting member is always kept clean, and only the surface of the food can be continuously and efficiently coated.

Further, since the roll to which the driving force is applied is used as the supporting member, there is an effect that the adjustment of the erection gap and the removal of the adhered coating material can be performed completely surely.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view in which a part of an embodiment of the present invention is cut away,
FIG. 2 is a side view in which a part is similarly cut. 1 ... Hopper, 5 ... Shutter, 6 ... Roll, 7 ... Scraper, 8 ... Food, 12 ... Tank, 13 ... Pump, 23 ... Supporting member

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A method in which a coating material is made to flow down in a thin film form, and the thin film coating material is sequentially applied onto a food product to be coated, wherein the food product to be coated is discontinuous in a moving direction. Is supported by the support member and is moved at a high speed, the support member is provided with at least a flow gap of the thin film coating material, and the coating material adhered to the support member can be removed. A food coating method, characterized in that the moving speed of the coated food is regulated so that the amount of the coating material received when the food passes is matched with the amount by which the surface of the coated food is covered. 2. A roll to which a driving force is applied is installed at predetermined intervals below a hopper for flowing the coating material in a thin film in order to move the food to be coated in a lateral direction. The food coating apparatus is characterized in that the gap between the rolls faces directly below the lower flow portion, and each roll is provided with a coating material removing means.